Arsene Wenger said in the press that Sanchez was jaded both mentally and physically. Maybe he wasn’t throwing shade at the Bournemouth performance, maybe he was throwing… JADE? No?

Anyway, quotes…

‘What is surprising there? You want to see that kind of passion. You don’t come down from 3-0 down from 70 minutes without that passion. We wanted to win the game and we didn’t and we’re all frustrated. Mentally and physically Sánchez is a bit jaded. You could see that he is tired. He can have sometimes emotional reactions but face to face he is always very respectful.’

Wenger is right, you want to see players upset. I’m not on board with him being the only one who cares in the squad, but I am absolutely on board with him being one of the players that cares the most about winning and having that DNA running through his make-up.

“The other players care as much as he does, don’t worry,”

“Everybody has his way. There was no celebration in the dressing room; everybody was disappointed that they didn’t win the game. There is no hierarchy of intensity of desire to win at that level. Everybody wants to win.”

I think with the right manager, that mentality can be beaten into players. You have to have a certain level of give a fuck to make it to the top in any sport, but when the trappings of money and fame land, it must be tough to maintain focus. You don’t really need to answer to anyone and you don’t need to fight for survival.

That’s where the best managers come into play, they make millionaires feel like they’re poor, fighting their way out of poverty again. I’m not sure our players have that hunger, or the fear that they need to perform. Top four mediocrity celebrated, socialist wage structure implemented and total stagnation of ideas and vision from a manager not chained to ambitous targets.

We witnessed the collective weak mentality during the second half of last season when the league was ours to blow. We’ve seen it countless times in seasons past. Just in this latest iteration of Wengerball, we don’t have the fight Adams and his boys had, that was then passed onto the 02 and 04 teams. The winning formula isn’t there. When you had Sol Campbell yelling at Paddy for falling asleep, that’s gone. Where’s the 1997 dressing room inquest after a 1-3 loss at home to Blackburn? We’re not talking about a reaction, we’re talking about whether Sanchez sulked with people. Rather than apologizing to the fans, shouldn’t they be coming up with a plan of attack?

It does worry me that Sanchez is jaded physically and mentally and we’re a week into January. I don’t understand why we need to bury our players before we rest them? A few days off against Preston isn’t going to boost the batteries up to normal levels. If we’d managed his fitness better in November and December, maybe we’d have a fitter, more mentally sharp player who could contribute with even more gusto. Also worth noting that we’re rushing Mustafi back into action, Koscielny has played all the games, Monreal has looked off the pace and Bellerin had his worst game in an Arsenal shirt (another perma starter).

Our injury list is pretty bad at the moment. Per, Ozil, Theo, Gibbs, Cazorla, Coq, Perez, Welbz (unavailable) and Debuchy all out. Lucky we’re having these problems in a relatively easy month before the Chelsea game early Feb.

Wenger made mention of the Ozil and Sanchez contract talks. He seems very confident.

“Alexis Sanchez is a committed player who wants to stay. I’m convinced we’ll find an agreement. It has to be in our potential”

“We are not scared to spend the money and we are not scared to show the players we love them, and we want them to earn big money but we have to have a line of conduct.”

Would LOVE to know what the line of conduct is. What’s the cut off? Well, the AST have an answer of sorts. It’s £97m. We have that sitting in the bank for Sanchez and his new deal, or maybe it’s for Wenger and this summer? Or… whisper it, it’s for Wenger’s successor this summer.

That number is chump change, but you could probably find £90m for Chambo, Ramsey and Wilshere alone. Whoever comes in is no doubt going to tear up the squad… and make some much needed changes to the psyche, £100m with the right manager would be a good figure to work with.

In other news, Arsenal have signed Cohen Bramall from Hednesford Town for a whopping £40k. Wenger says he reminds him of a young Ashley Cole. Certainly has the pace and mobility Cole had, big shout from the scouting crew if he has the talent! Looks a bit like a youtube vlogger to me…

‘I eat ham sandwiches with jam, I’m BONKERS’ said Youtuber Bramall

I’m glad we’re finally making these sort of signings. We spent too many years snobbishly ignoring what homegrown players can offer if given the chance. A sign that coaching is getting much better in the lower reaches of the football league and a sign that our scouting department is starting to mature and branch out of its one league policy of the post 2004 era.

Right, that’s all I have today, enjoy life and know that I’m back in America on Saturday. Time to switch back into a sterile work persona, time to realise banter is not a mitigating circumstance for everything and time to realise the gut I’ve developed over the last 3 weeks is no longer a sign of masculinity… and that in New York, masculinity is a relic of the past and actually I need to cry more and talk about my feelings to strangers because health insurance gives me access to shrinks, xanax and regular prostate checks.

P.S. PLEASE SHARE YOUR ARTY ARSENAL PICTURES WITH ME WHEN I AM AWAY. It makes me happy to see fan pictures and I don’t have to keep reusing my old ones. Will give FULL credit to anyone who sends them.

I love that we have a couple of players with passion when it comes to the club and results, but we still have too many that are ok with a point away after coming back from 3-0 down. They should be furious with themselves with being 3-0 down in the first place.

I’m curious to see how many ex-Arsenal players come back to the club once Wenger leaves. I think there are quite a few players that would like to have a role with the club, but Wenger doesn’t want them to challenge him.

Northbanker January 6, 2017 13:29:44
Danny – no he wasn’t – he resigned in 1976
——————————–
He was sacked for sure, maybe nowadays it’s called “resigning” but he was booted out.
Either way what Wenger’s done to this club since 2008 is just plain boring, every season is the same.
Maybe you’re happy with that, I’m not.

Pedro – agreed and my underlying point is that all of those who subscribe to the theory that Arsenal’s “problems” are all based on Wenger’s ineptitude are going to get a horrible shock when we do change manager. It will only be then that there is going to be a waking up process when we realise that getting a Champions League place is a lot tougher than given credit for.

When you have 3 massive financial competitors who can outbid us in the transfer market and a whole number of others who are or will be quite close (esp re BT money) then a change of manager will make diddly squat difference to our overall standing.

And when a further 10 years have passed with this realisation, those on this site old enough to remember any past at that time will realise the Wenger years were pretty special.

Danny – he may well have realised it was time to go but the fact remained it was called ‘resigned’ then as well! You can’t re-write history to suit your own argument!

As for boring, try finding re-runs of Mee’s teams and then you will really know what ‘boring’ is about. I stood on the North Bank for years watching that and the difference today is incomparable

I might also mention the last league positions that Mee achieved with this drivel – 1974 – 10th; 1975 – 16th; 1976 – 17th (give or take one or two places as I’m going from memory). And you’re moaning because we come no lower than 4th for 20 consecutive years, including runners up last year!!!! Unbelievable.

Northbanker
You and I are from back then which is great of course, good times standing on the north bank, Jack Kelsey’s tiny shop etc
Bertie Mee lost Don Howe and immediately started to break up the double team e.g. selling Graham, George – bringing in Ball etc. That was his major error. Somewhere in my attic I’ve got the newspaper cuttings from then including he’s sacking coz as you pointed out we finished 17th.
I see no point in getting top 4 each year if that is the height of the manager’s ambition. I want to see us attempting to win the league etc etc

What exactly does top 4 give us ?? Us the fans that is ?? Should we go our entire lives getting into 4th and not winning a title ?? I’d rather win the title every 3-4 years and be out of the the champions league ( we do love travelling to Croatia to spank some unknown team), for a season or 2 !! But fear is what holds the akbs back and also fear that they leader will be over taken by someone else !!

Rushing Mustafi back suggests little confidence in either Holding or Gabriel. I do not subscribe to sny theory that says a player is worth a squad place if the manager will not play them. Give the money to charity or back to the supporters in reduced prices and play an academy starlet if no other solution exists.

Wenger should answer as to whether the following are worthy of their wages: Martinez, Jenkinson, Debuchy, Holding, Gabriel, Perez.

Squad players know they are not first choice, however if plan A does not involve a role for them (like giving a 3 week break to starters mid season), including domestic cup games, then why did the manager sign them?

They certainly are not selling shirts being fodder on the training ground…..

Respect can be earned and it can be lost !! Each and everyone in here respected Wenger when we were winning ( red truth may argue this ) and we respected him when he said we won’t be able to compete with the big boys cause we have to pay off our stadium debt. But over time we have lost respect cause he does a half-arsed job. He was revered as a revolutionary when he was doing his job, but when he slacks off, they has to be recuperations !!

I’m not saying I’m jumping with joy for finishing 4th but it’s a hell of a lot better than 5th. Yes I want to win the league every year but there is a different reality about football now and simply appointing a Klopp or a Guardiola is not going to bring the unlimited joy that some seem to be suggesting.

And mostly, because he f*cking lied to us.
——————————————–
His lying makes me sick. I’d prefer he’d say nothing than lie, actually anybody for that matter. That comment about not selling Nasri and Fabregas will never be forgiven.

I’m not one to throw Wenger under the bus whenever a result doesn’t go our way, but I think all of the discussions about fight, passion, professionalism etc. are glossing over the fact that we (Wenger & the players) seemed to underestimate/underprepare for the way we all knew Bournemouth would play.

They’re at team who press high (especially at home), utlaise pace on the flanks/upfront and crucially, can pass the ball to one another.

Going 3-0 down had little to do with ‘passion’ and everything to do with passive tactics. We literally had no answer to the way they played.

It wasn’t even ‘passion’ that got us back into the match, Bournemouth seemed to think the job was done and stopped doing the things that had worked so well; stopped disrupting our play and dropped deeper & deeper. Other than bringing Lucas on, it seems to me that Wenger & the players didn’t do anything different – which is why i find it difficult when he talks about the response etc.

Don’t get me wrong, i jumped as high as the next Arsenal fan when Giroud knocked his goal in and hope I never fall into the ‘wish we’d lost the game so I’d be proved right/Wenger would be proved wrong’ camp, but I really didn’t see much to suggest that passion or spirit was missing for the first 70 mins and suddenly evident in the last 20. Bournemouth changed the way they we’re playing, we didn’t. It felt like neither Wenger or the players had an answer to the challenge the opposition posed. And yes…that’s worrying…and has been for ages.

In my opinion, the lack of ability to adapt in real-time is shared by both Arsene & the players, and is the responsibility of both – but for me its more about what we do with the football then about passion or professionalism.

Mustafi who was on the bench for crstal palace rushed back? Lol. Only at Arsenal do we have all these issues about injuries down at wenger. Mustafi who got injured after a full week rest, coquelin got injured after a rest too. Xhaka didnt play for the first two months, now people are crying he is going to get injured. Hmmm.
As for Elneny, he isnt going to a winter break, is he? He is going to play all the games for Egypt. I even fear for his return.
Perez who hasnt played much is also getting injury scare. Rest or no rest, players who like getting injured will always get injured.

Lets see how Ramsey gets along in his best position after 4 weeks, i know some will still blame wenger for not resting him.

Valencia, Jones have both played all games non stop since they returned. Pogba, 35 year old Ibramovich havent got their rest, Mourhino would make sure they earn all their wages. Yet we cry blood at Arsenal.

Most have been accusing wenger of not knowing his starting 11, because he has beem changing midfield personnel, others say he doesnt rotate. Which is which? If he isnt playing the same midfield and starting 11 every match, how is it that he is accused of not rotating? Alright, until we see sanchez and Kos on the bench then we would all agree wenger is rotating, right?

The man just needs to go for his own peace, lets see another manager’s input and how the fans would react.

You cant compare Man utd preparedness to playing confernce players to that of Arsenal. 8-2 result saw two freekick goals, 2 penalties, Ashley Young scoring two from outside the box, and a red card.
We had several players who were not expecting to start that day and they did.

At least the conference side players knew they were playing Man utd weeks before hand, and they didnt just lost their two most outstanding players before the game.

Evem Arsenal fans were broke mentally before the game against man utd, wht do you think the players thought would have been, if fans were down already?

Jimmy, Bournemouth players got tired at 60 mins and beyond, they started falling down like flies. No they didnt think the job was done, but all that energy they expanded at the begining got to a stand still and then Arsenal took hold of it. If they were a bit more defensive or physical like Everton or southampton we would have lost the game.

Er, it’s the managers responsibility to MANAGE his players fitness, that’s why he’s called the MANAGER. So if our players are having fitness issues, injuries not been managed well etc then of course it’s on the manager.

I get it Gambon, I really do, but I’m also interested in what the players think/do when in those situations.

Fans always argue about whether certain players are good enough or whether certain players have the right attitude, but I want to know what Hector (just an example) thought after he let their lad in after 10 mins (definitely as a big result of Ramsey’s negligence btw).

What did he do to make sure it was a one-off? What did Ramsey do to ensure he provided better cover? What about Coq & Xhaka when they saw one ball by-pass the whole midfield?

The answer is nothing. There was no change. And the really worrying thing is that it doesn’t only happen when we are losing/lose. Arguably the most frustrating performance of the season for me was at the Etihad. Worse even than some you have mentioned because they were there for the taking and we went 0-1 up; all we had to do was string 4/5 passes together and we would have opened them up again and again but we couldn’t do it. Really good footballers couldn’t do it. Then, City changed the game and we couldn’t respond again.

Yes – Wenger is the constant in all of this, and yes – he decides the tactics (or not! ) and sets the tone for the players, but I can’t understand why our talented midfield couldn’t pass the ball to Walcott or Sanchez for 70 mins in the City game when it seemed so obvious that it would lead to success, or why the players couldn’t work out how to stop Bournemouth for 70 mins.

“I can’t understand why our talented midfield couldn’t pass the ball to Walcott or Sanchez for 70 mins in the City game when it seemed so obvious that it would lead to success, or why the players couldn’t work out how to stop Bournemouth for 70 mins.”

Our “talented” midfielders often fail to string 2-3 passes together against good teams or even against average teams if there is something at stake. The reason is our midfielders are not as good as they are made out to be.

Gambon, and how did Man utd prepare hard for that game? Dont worry, only their starting 11 would tell. We just signed a player from 7th tire of english football, who should not be in our squad. But he is, one day he is going to play agaisnt the big side and where he came from would be forgotten.
We had Jekinson, a rookie goalie in goal. Playing for Arsenal under 20 or 23 doesnt mean they shouldnt be plying their trade for the conference side. Which division do they loan them to again if they needed game time? I bet you if not because they have Arsenal’s contract, they would be in the conference side on loan.

Vicky, your 15;17, last paragraph so good. Sometimes we rightly say our players are average, then we want them to deliver agaisnt players we rate more than them. It is like saying bournemouth can do what they did against us when they face barca. One day we agree the players are no better than our rivals, the next day we say they should be working magic than our rivals?

Arsenal fans still think we should be rated among the big teams, but forget we are just who we are. See us struggling to give our 2 best players (questionable) 250k/wk, something our rivals do freely without barting an eyelid. Vardy was given how much again to reject Arsenal? I bet you if it was the other way, we would have sold him asap. We need to just agree we are marginally now Liverpool and totenham equal and be down with it. All these changing managers wouldnt do nothing. Totenham and liverpool have been changing managers for years now, even Man utd now want to throw every pound at it, something we wont do, which makes us lower than their level.

In a space of 3 years, we bought 3dms Elneny, Xhaka and flamin for a total of 43m, Man utd bought Pogba, Snerderlin, Herera, Blind, Fellani and the German legend for close to 300m. And maybe others can do the sum total of the rest clubs, and we are expecting a premier league challenge just because Leicester did it. Smh

Ashely has a good point.. this squad has the quality to compete with any side in the league yet will inevitably falter, get into the familiar battle for Champions league place. The accepted barometer for success by owner / manager, Giroud celebrating that equalizer was like celebrating taking 4th spot at St. James in 2013. That doesn’t happen under managers with the killer mentality it takes to win today.

Wenger’s decision making is incredibly suspect. From starting XI to bizarre substitutions to the petty excuse making. Placing blame on the fixture schedule, the same one the benefitted him vs City was clearly our undoing vs Bournemouth the following week. Total banter.

Little doubt Sanchez and Ozil will be gone come the start of next season, with Wenger still peddling his new project to anyone whom will listen, the board too frightened to make a big decision with an owner whom is happy in the safety of Wenger’s mediocrity.

Would love to see Usmanov on the board, incredible he’s not considering he’s the 2nd largest shareholder. Putting money into Everton out of sheer boredom.

Remember how fans constantly berated Wenger for giving Alex Song the freedom to roam and “express himself” on the pitch. Saying Song would perform better if he had clearer and specific instructions. Haha

Well, how did Song fare at the almighty barca with their super coaches? Where is he now though?

We are exactly where we deserve to be when you consider our personnel. Garbage in garbage out.

A lot of fans would still act shocked if/when we crash out to Bayern. Seriously, what were you expecting? You’ve suddenly believed in the coach/players? Stop setting up yourself for disappointments.

Hahha, so what are you saying? We are talking how much the attack cost.
If you are talking about net spending, then what has wenger been doing all these years? We never learn, or rather we keep forgetting.

Here comes the AKB fucktard crowd to defend their Lord and Savior. You morons never learn. Terrible Gooners the lot of you. Fourth place is not a trophy. Getting into the CL every year means fuck all if you never even mount a chance at winning the damn thing. We are a dream match up every year come final 16. Bayern are licking their chops and looking ahead to the next round. We are a joke to the proper clubs actually trying to win trophies. Here’s hoping you lot fuck off when Wenger finally does. You’re Arsene over Arsenal fans anyway. Fear of change will always hold back the mental midgets.

Vicky, dont forget he bought in midfield, defence and in goal. The attack was already scoring for fun from Bredan days, it was the defence that was a mess and stil is.

Whose side desimated arsenal at Anfield again? Year, bredan’s. And he brought in Lallana, Contihno and Firmino, right. They were also fantastic then. The Aggressiveness in the attack has increased no doubt, but the kop fans remain hopeful as usual.

‘my underlying point is that all of those who subscribe to the theory that Arsenal’s “problems” are all based on Wenger’s ineptitude are going to get a horrible shock when we do change manager. It will only be then that there is going to be a waking up process when we realise that getting a Champions League place is a lot tougher than given credit for.

‘When you have 3 massive financial competitors who can outbid us in the transfer market and a whole number of others who are or will be quite close (esp re BT money) then a change of manager will make diddly squat difference to our overall standing.

And when a further 10 years have passed with this realisation, those on this site old enough to remember any past at that time will realise the Wenger years were pretty special.’

I really hope I’m wrong, but I think fans who expect a top coach to succeed wenger and for arsenal fc to spend a significant amount of it’s riches will be sorely disappointed.

If liverpool dont win the league in 2-3years, Contiho, Firmino would live ala Suarez and Sterlin and then the cycle would continue (reminding us of Arsenal). It would only stop if and only if they grab the league in 2years.

The first indication of how bad arsenal football club has been run since our awful, couldn’t care less owner got involved , might not come from arsenal itself.

I think It will come from Spurs.

Their new stadium will be finished in 2018. Now, I’,m sure they’ve had to borrow enormously to fund the project, but let’s see if they embark on a ten year ‘austerity programme’. Let’s see if despite the huge extra revenue earned from the stadium, their fans are constantly told that they have to wait, and that they still
‘can’t compete’ in transfers.

Alex, this is whant would happen after wenger, we would be chopping players every year like liverpool and totenham and still ariving at the same spot. We will never throw money at it. We cant even pay two players 250k/wk lol. And we are expecting the new manager to do magic? o

Vicky, how mcuh did our rivals spend on the same position? We bought cheap. Dont you know 30m pounds is the new cheap scale today? I dont think most of us realise what Arsenal is now turned into. Listen to wenger’s interview again about players wages.

kante and Mane all cost close to 30M and they are better value than our 30 M signings this season – Xhaka and Mustafi. I am not even criticizing Xhaka and Mustafi but you must admit pound for pound Kante and Mane are much better value.

I’ve always been a supporter of Arsene even at times when I’ve known he’s been the root of all our problems but enough is enough. We have good enough players if not to win the UcL but at least the League. It has always been and will always be about the manager. Two seasons with Klopp and our current team and you really think we’d be playing football like this? Two seasons with Simeone and our current and you think we’d have these complaints? Yes i know atl madrid are in sought of a rough patch right now but they’ll overcome and the past three to four years have been amazing for them. Guardiola would accomplish soooooo much with our team in two seasons i guarantee you. Ancelotti? Words need not be said.

Arsenal are at a level where breaking into UCL success should be our main concern. Even when the likes of Barcelona Chelsea Bayern and co. loose, you know its only temporary and things will sort themseves but not with Arsenal.

The biggest question is who will be Arsene’s succesor, cuz’ we all know he’s got to go, but we have to be careful because we can’t afford to make the mistake United made, like we literally can’t afford it. But yes, Wenger IS the root of all our problems, our players aren’t demanded of much and it’s sad because we do have good players. A solid back five, Carzola, Xhaka, Perez, Sanchez, Özil and Iwobi/Oxlade…can you honestly say that this starting 11 isn’t good enough? Especially in a 4-3-3??? Common. Wenger out! (For the right person of course lol)

Hook him up to life support? Or turn him into a cyborg to keep him going.

The fact is we need a younger more Hungary manager who actually uses tactics who studies the opposition and prepares for them adequately who can change a match when he says the tactics aren’t doing it.

Jesus i’ve not posted up here in several month and Alexander Henry is beating the same drum as always. Blindly marching.

How is it we lived thru that stadium build period with those results, have been told we can compete for world class by our GM. Signed world class yet still have the same results. In fact one could argue the best side Wenger has assembled was smack in the middle of that time in 2008. And now our world class singing looks utterly fucked off by the clubs lack of fight and managerial shortcomings. Juventus likely to benefit.

How is it the owners fault? Us committing the same inept mistakes annually, crashing out of europe in the round of 16, dabbling with a title only to fail when it starts getting serious.

Our only victories come in cup competition where a one off performance can push you over the line. The title requires consistency the marker of class and good management something Wenger has lacked for well over a decade, yet its the owners cross to bear? Deluded.

The Owner is at fault because he does not care a toss about football. The results don’t matter as long as the money keeps rolling in. Keep in mind that football is not on his radar and look at the numbers – full stadium, TV money, merchadising, etc, etc. The business is doing great – why change a winning formula ?

The Owner does not look at Arsenal in the same way that real fans do. Any owner who gave a tuppency fuck about football would change things. Kroenke does give a tuppeny fuck about football.

Agree Kroenke is at fault for not cutting shot of spent Wenger, but thats not Alexanders’s argument. He adores Wenger.

The point is, Kroenke has given Wenger the means to compete. We spent over £90m last summer with more available if needed. Wenger hasn’t the ability to get more out of a side that is chronically underperforming.

Where Chelsea are looking to better themselves this January, Wenger isn’t. He’s content to keep this massive side together yet play a player like Koz into the ground, bring Mustafi back early cause he has zero faith in Gabriel.

With Wenger, it’s not just one thing though. It’s a combination of factors and inadequacies that we’ve discussed to death many times here. Whatever he does, however much he spends, whoever he plays – the final result is always the bloody same. I can’t see us coming out of the 13 year rut until there is at least a change in management. The constant finishing of top four has lulled the fan-base into complacency and apathy. These are serious, serious issues for a club of this size – but the executives just don’t see it.

Said it before, if you don’t like Kroenke you should be all for Wenger leaving, rallying behind the cause, with Wenger gone Kroenke will be totally vulnerable because the fans will not be in this self-induced state of sentimental sedation.

I think they are both as bad as each other, but Wenger represents a bigger issue because he’s the cement keeping this status quo together.

Without Wenger, Kroenke is vulnerable to the full wrath of every fan if he f**ks up.

Without Kroenke, under an ambitious owner, like Abromavich, Wenger would be toast. But, there can be no change with Wenger there, he manages to sedate, as it were, a large section of the fan base, makes them accept what is happening as the ‘best we can do.’

“Winks has been training with the Tottenham first team for years, being exposed to high standards and Pochettino’s trademark intensity on a daily basis. It’s that work that can make for a seamless transition. Winks scored on that full debut against West Ham.

A move away could have denied the young Spurs man daily contact with quality. Among weaker players, there is the potential to pick up bad habits. Consider the fact that David Beckham was mocked by his team-mates at Preston for practising free-kicks after training.

Quality begets quality. As Wenger himself puts it: “It’s difficult because the development of the players depends on the concentration of the good players. The more good players you have together, the more chance they have of becoming even better players.””

“my underlying point is that all of those who subscribe to the theory that Arsenal’s “problems” are all based on Wenger’s ineptitude are going to get a horrible shock when we do change manager. It will only be then that there is going to be a waking up process when we realise that getting a Champions League place is a lot tougher than given credit for”

No one cares….literally no one cares about playing in a competition we cant possibly win. Chelsea fell out of the CL, they are now 5 points clear and clearly the PLs best team.

“When you have 3 massive financial competitors who can outbid us in the transfer market”

What you mean is ‘3 clubs that we allow to outbid us’. We have over £200m in the bank. If we want to compete with our rivals, we can, simple as that. There hasnt been a player sold in the last 5 years that we couldnt have bought anywhere in world football. We choose not to compete.

“and a whole number of others who are or will be quite close (esp re BT money)”

None of the clubs below us can remotely compete with us. Spurs have a wage bill half the size of ours.

Its absolute bullshit to suggest teams like Spurs, Everton (with a wage bill 50% lower than us) can compete with us, yet we cant compete with teams like City, who have a wage bill 5% higher than us.

“And when a further 10 years have passed with this realisation, those on this site old enough to remember any past at that time will realise the Wenger years were pretty special.”

Why cant you AKBs seperate the present from the past?

The last time anything special happened at Arsenal was 10.5 years ago

When Wenger was a top manager, players like Nedved & Ronaldinho were the best in the world.

Why arent you constantly demanding that we sign Nedved and Ronaldinho?

Why cant AKBs accept that managerial ability isnt linear.

It is possible that Wenger is relatively nowhere near the manager he was in 2004.

With fans like them no wonder we’re so far off the top teams in Europe. Arsenal will come 5th this year and the cunt will spin it as a trophy won and a tremendous achievement and the AKB’S will lap it up like dogs eating their shit. Fuck we have the dumbest fans, it’s a miracle most of them can get dressed correctly in the morning…..want proof of that, just look at that cunt Ty a 40 yr old guy dressed like a 7 years old

Quality begets quality. As Wenger himself puts it: “It’s difficult because the development of the players depends on the concentration of the good players. The more good players you have together, the more chance they have of becoming even better players.””……
Just listen to the cunt spewing out more shit. The more good players you have eh…..I know I’ll sign Sanogo, a player that would look out of place in a primary school u9 football team for being so shit

AlexH
“The first indication of how bad arsenal football club has been run since our awful, couldn’t care less owner got involved , might not come from arsenal itself.
I think It will come from Spurs.
Their new stadium will be finished in 2018. Now, I’,m sure they’ve had to borrow enormously to fund the project, but let’s see if they embark on a ten year ‘austerity programme’. Let’s see if despite the huge extra revenue earned from the stadium, their fans are constantly told that they have to wait, and that they still
‘can’t compete’ in transfers.”

you’re incurably deluded. What nonsense.
Our wage bill is 80 million amore than spuds and they are competitive with us already. Their highest paid players barely earn above100k weekly.
Spuds are already in austerity mode, don’t you see that?

I literally don’t know how many times certain supporters have to be told from sources inside and outside the club that Wenger is king at Arsenal, Wenger makes the football decisions and he’s backed, whatever he decides to do or not do.

It’s funny that most arsenal fans have now become like Wenger, losers. Only losers think that money is the only thing that gives you an edge. Leicester won the league with a fraction of the money we spent last season. Atletico Madrid is not among the top 10 richest clubs but has been competing with top two richest for a few years now. It’s not only about money. But if we even assume it’s only about the money, we are the fifth richest club in world football with a worth of £1.4bn and we have a wage bill close to the clubs around us on the list (probably even more than bayern’s). Now someone is saying we’re about Tottenham’s level. Tottenham is worth £704m so you must be a perpetual loser to think we’re at the same level. That’s what Wenger has turned arsenal to. With the amount Wenger has spent, some managers will do much better than this. Why should you settle for 4th when you can get 1st?

“That’s what Wenger has turned arsenal to. With the amount Wenger has spent, some managers will do much better than this.”

in 10yrs I can think of Leicester last season and Liverpool the Suarez season as teams that have spent less than us and done better….actually, not even sure Liverpool were spending less than us at that point. now compare that to the teams we’ve finished ahead of in those 10yrs who have spent far more than us.

Pretty much all clubs that move stadium have a down turn in form whether that be down to just money or other reasons as well.

The Spud’s are about to do a season at Wembley and then move into a new stadium. I expect them to have at least 3 seasons where performances drop. Finances will affect them and wait until the players on austerity wages start getting tapped up.

I’m fucked off with the situation at Arsenal but why do Arsenal fans have to “big up” perennial bottlers down the road?

Sad thing I’d there’s no sense of humour left anymore. My parents were born Muslim, but once they grew a few brain cells they became atheists. I think it’s a piss take at both cultures really east and west

Wallace
” in 10yrs I can think of Leicester last
season and Liverpool the Suarez season
as teams that have spent less than us
and done better….actually, not even
sure Liverpool were spending less than
us at that point. now compare that to
the teams we’ve finished ahead of in
those 10yrs who have spent far more
than us.”
Which team spent far more than us and achieve less in the past ten years?
Bayern has a similar (or even lower) wage bill to us. Please compare our performance to theirs in Europe in the last 10 years.

yes, some serious quality….that Brazilian midfielder….thinks he’s in China these days… Capoue, who turns out is actually pretty good….er, Lamela?…..and a couple more top drawer players. excellent use of 120m.

Wallace
“Man Utd the last 4yrs. Chelsea last
season, Man City a couple of times…”
You said 10 years, now you’re reverting to 4. Don’t be slippery like Wenger. These three teams have won the premier league between them for the past 10 years bar Leicester last season.
” Bayern have a lower wage bill because
the premier league is flooded with
money and pays on average more than
double what they do in Spain, Germany
& Italy.”
Lol more than double. You must be kidding. Bayern’s star players are receiving as high as players in the premier league.

“You cant compare Man utd preparedness to playing confernce players to that of Arsenal. 8-2 result saw two freekick goals, 2 penalties, Ashley Young scoring two from outside the box, and a red card.
We had several players who were not expecting to start that day and they did.At least the conference side players knew they were playing Man utd weeks before hand, and they didnt just lost their two most outstanding players before the game.”

This has got to be the worst shit ever posted in the history of football blogging.

This is exactly the problem with Wenger and why Arsenal are stuck in mediocrity hall of fame.
For Starters Ughelli, if you were playing Man UTD/ or any other top team with a weakened team, you would go with the same formation as you would with your best 11 except you are Wenger.

2) Only Wenger plays the same formation irrespective of the players he has and that is why he hasn’t won in Europe.

3) If its down to the money of our competitors, then remember Wenger only won the league when he had only Man UTD to compete with financially which if we were to go buy you theory, Wenger only won the league when he could out spend 18 others teams, so where is this so called “genius”?

4) Wenger has had 20 years to build a team, every other manager given this sort of time would have formed a dynasty and dominated, Wenger hasn’t ever retained a league title.

I played basketball for my UNI and every decent sportsman (except Wenger) knows the difference between playing to win and playing not to lose.

1) Wenger should have played not to lose in the 8-2 defeat and the 6-0 drubbing at Chelsea.

2) The fact that we had Almunia as our starting keeper for 3 years tells you all you need to know about Wenger.

3) Do i need to remind you about Sanogo?

4) Wenger dropped his best player Arshavin in the Carling cup just to prove a point? Does that look like a guy who wants to win?

5) In 2014, top of the league and short in midfield what does the specialist in failure do? Sign Kim fucking Kallstrom with a broke back….. Seriously? was that also down to Man UTD, City and Chelsea outbidding us?

There was no celebration in the dressing room? Surprised to hear that. We never seem to get our priorities right. When we needed to fetch the ball from the net like Alexis and resume play quickly seeing that we had all of 6 minutes to win the game, we spent precious seconds celebrating the equalizer, as if that was our highest aspiration. When it was finally over and we had all the time to celebrate our hard-earned draw with the usual team selfie and all, we chose to wear long faces. Beats me.

The real problem is the culture at the club. With Kroenke at the helm the
club is just a money making project with very little football ambition.

Kroenke is an immensely rich man who has built a financial empire in property and sport backed by the resources of the Walmart Family into
whom he married.

In the last two years he has acquired a new sports franchise in US and plans
to build a mega stadium. He has acquired the largest ranch in USA and this
week it is announced that he has acquired one of the best wine estates in
Burgundy.

Yet when it comes to Arsenal his only investment has been in the purchase of shares. He has not invested a single penny of his money in improving the
team.

If he was seriously interested in football and more importantly had any ambition for the club he would make sure that Arsenal was provided with the
right tools to win trophies. No-one believes seriously any longer that the
current Board, Management or Coaching Staff at club is fit for purpose. There is no hunger to be successful and it is well past its sell by date.

We have a Board which contains mainly 70 year olds none of whom apart
from Kroenke and his son are invested in the business. In most other organisations these people would be retired.

Wenger has been running the club for 20+ years and since 2004 has had little success apart from winning FA Cup a couple of times. The coaching
staff involved with the first team is also more or less the same.

If this was a publicly quoted business with this track record and lack of performance most shareholders would be hollering for a change of management at very least or more importantly they would want to sell their investment so that someone else can make a better job.

I would not want to see the club taken over by Usmanov the second largest shareholder, but I do know that had he taken over Arsenal rather than Kroenke the club would have received the required investment to succeed and more importantly we would not be stuck with the same management and coaching team.

The question that needs to be asked is what makes Wenger so unique and
indispensable with his track record?

Arsenal’s perennial injury record is not just down to bad luck nor the fact
that far too many of our best young talent fails to progress. The fact that Szczesny at 26 is now performing well at Rome and Wilshire has managed
to play injury free at Bournemouth tells you everything you need to know about the club.

I am in no doubt that players like Oxlade- Chamberlain and Ramsey would have progressed had they played for another club or manager.

My guess is that the club will continue to regress, because Kroenke will
not sell his investment and the club will continue to be run by second rate
and over paid bunch of flunkeys.

One, aside from Joe, no one here thinks that if we get rid of Wenger we win every game and walk the league. Nothing of the sort. Most here would acknowledge that we could replace Wenger and finish outside of the top four the very next year with a new manager. As you say, finishing top four isn’t easy, and even a good manager might not get things right in his first or second season.

But one thing we also know is that we will never compete for the title again as long as Wenger is manager. Never. Anyone who says otherwise is clueless or lying to himself.

Two, I agree that it’s not easy to finish top four each and every season for twenty seasons. But it’s also not easy to go ten years at a club like Arsenal and not compete for the title once. Not ONCE. In ten years.

Three, respect? Please go fuck yourself. A person has to have his head up his ass to think Wenger deserves “respect” at this point. Ten years ago, maybe. Not any longer. No way. Sorry. Why? A few things come to mind.

One, he has demonstrated zero ambition for a decade now. He has made Arsenal into perennial also-rans and something of a laughing stock among top clubs. No top club takes Arsenal seriously. No one. No way. No how. Not at all. No, no, and no.

Two, he is dishonest. Dishonest with himself, dishonest with the players, but most importantly, dishonest with the supporters. I ‘ll let others cite the various examples — it’s been a long day & a long week — but he has been dishonest / disingenuous about his players and his squad countless times at this point.

Three, he has subjected Arsenal to many shameful humiliations. 8-2, 6-0, 6-3, 5-1. And others. He has never expressed an ounce of regret for any of these shameful fucking showings. Not one ounce. A decent man would apologize to the fans after even ONE of these shameful outings. Not Wenger. Far from it. This cunt has actually BLAMED the fans for some of the team’s poorer performances.

How you can call for people to respect this arrogant dickhead at this point is beyond me. And I don’t give a fuck how long you have been supporting Arsenal. You might be a supporter of some fifty years, but if you think Wenger deserves supporters’ respect at this point, then you don’t know your head from your ass. Or you simply haven’t been paying close enough attention. Either way, your opinion counts for zilch. Zilch.

Wenger doesn’t deserve anyone’s respect — and he doesn’t give a fuck about the supporters, by the way. He has made this abundantly clear. It’s actually kind of ironic that he still inspires such loyalty among some fans. Not only has he been a complete incompetent for some ten years now, he has shown nothing but contempt for supporters. Complete and utter contempt.

Four, Kim Kallstrom. Yaya Sanogo. Yaya Sanogo as our starting CF against Bayern Munich in the CL. Niklas Bendtner as a wide forward against AC Milan in the CL. Let me say that again: Niklas Bendtner as a wide forward against AC Milan in the CL. Aaron Ramsey as a right back. Flamini. Arteta. Flameta. Giroud as the starting CF for four years. Four years! And on and on and on.

He doesn’t know what the fuck he is doing. Seriously.

Does he manage to finish top four? Yes. He has this down. But other than that, he is a complete fucking incompetent.

I’ll let others continue, but Wenger needs to be criticized, insulted and pelted with tomatoes until he sees that it is high time to fuck off. And no offense, but his defenders can fuck off with him.

To those on here saying we’ll look back on Wenger’s time as pretty special

What exactly is special? He has total stability. Sure stability is good but for a major club is stability of mediocrity

Which of these recent years under Wenger will we look back on and smile? They were all the fucking same and none of them remarkable.

‘That time we edged out Spurs in the final game of the season…. A came fourth and won nothing.’

‘That time we managed to beat Bayern in a flukey ass game where we got fuckihg dominated… And got knocked out regardless’

‘That time when wilshere looked like a worldie as we got smashed again by barca’

‘That year we achieved second place… Despite finishing double digits back of Leicester in a year when every other team had imploded’

What has been special about these years apart from stability? If we hadn’t won the cl but had been doing pretty well and competing like we used to (final and semi final in a few years) then sure 4th place trophy would’ve at least been a special opportunity for us to attack the cl and see what happens

but it hasn’t. We’ve got either smashed or turned over in the early knockout stages for yonks. The top teams have humiliated us, the shit teams have humiliated us. Psv… Monaco… Fucking hell

We only managed to win the group once in how many years? And our groups are usually shite if we’re being honest here

So please do tell me what is pretty special about the last 10 years? Other than very occasional individual results which years have been good years? Which years have been special? Which years have been enjoyable?

diddly-fucking-squat comes to mind

I’d rather have Arsenal yoyo in position and go into seasons with hope and potential then know the outcome with this smug half arsed enjoyment in a tedious stability that provides absolutely nothing of worth to us as fans